Around 800 people jumped into the lake for the fourth annual Erie Polar Plunge

The people of Erie prepared themselves for the fun but chilly Polar Plunge with Temperatures in the low 40’s and strong winds creating huge waves at the beach. It was Christopher Lewis’s second time taking part in the plunge.

“It is freezing cold this year, last year wasn’t bad this year is a lot colder,” said Lewis. Participants included groups from Penn State Behrend, Mercyhurst University, Erie School District, and Pennsylvania State Police.

For safety, people were only allowed to go shoulder deep into the water. Plungers who committed to “Freezin for a reason” waited in groups of 15 to jump in. After jumping in you could see from people’s faces that the wind and cold water spared no one.

“It’s an amazing event this is the only true beach in Pennsylvania so all of our other plunges are in pools, rivers, and lakes,” said Eric Cushing.

The event raised over $100,000 and those funds will go towards special Olympics in Pennsylvania.

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